Father and Daughter
by Marlex
Summary: Years after the end of the war, Iroh visits Toph to fulfill a request on her wedding day. (One-shot)


**Author's Note:** This is another story I wrote awhile back and posted on my LiveJournal. I hope you enjoy.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Toph felt Iroh approaching before he even reached the front door. He always carried himself in such a distinct fashion that she had been able to recognize him instantly ever since she first met him alone in the woods brewing his tea.

She _watched_ as Katara let him in and they greeted each other in a friendly fashion. Although she could not hear them from where was she was, Toph could tell he was nervous. It was odd sensation to feel such an emotion from him, even though she had done so in several rare instances in the past, usually when he was worried about Zuko.

Toph monitored their approach, leaving the foyer and walking through the hallway until they reached the door to the bedroom in which she was currently sitting, trying in vain to keep her own nerves under control. Just before Katara's hand hit the door to knock, Toph said, "He can come in, Katara."

She felt the other girl jump slightly.

"Thank you," Iroh said to Katara, his voice muffled by the door but easily understood by someone used to relying on her four working senses.

"You're welcome," Katara replied, giving him a slight bow before turning around and heading back to the foyer.

The door opened and he walked in. After he closed the door behind him, she stood to greet her friend.

"Good morning," he said in his gravelly voice.

In response, she walking up to him and wrapped her arms around his round belly, which had grown somewhat in the years since the war ended. His tea store was still treating him well, she was pleased to feel. She didn't visit him as often as she used to, but between the earthbending school and her personal life-which had grown decidedly more complicated since her engagement-she didn't have many opportunities to leave Omashu. Toph would have loved to live closer to Iroh, but she had never been able to forgive Ba Sing Se after the way they were treated during their first visit to the great city. Once she had an opinion about something, she rarely changed it.

Letting go of Iroh, she took a step back. "So, why are you so nervous?" she asked, never one to leave the obvious unsaid.

"I'm nervous about what I'm here to do. Are you absolutely sure?"

"Don't you know me by now? I'm always sure. Once I set my mind to something, a badgermole couldn't budge me."

Not to be deterred, he continued, "But shouldn't your father be the one to give you-?"

She didn't let him finish. "My mother and I managed to patch our wounds many years ago Iroh. My father, however..." she trailed off, searching for the right words. "We both have very strong opinions about the course of my life that are mutually exclusive of one another. Considering it is my life, my opinion wins. He has been unable to accept that fact, and I'm not wasting any more time on it."

While she still felt a twinge of regret in that she had never been able to resolve the issues between her and her father, Toph had long since accepted the way of it. Her parents received the letter she sent with Sakka's hawk during their travels through the Fire Kingdom. She had thought that when they appeared at the doorstep of the house the group shared in Ba Sing Se in the months following the war, they would finally be able to accept her for who she was. Her mother had. Her father had not.

Iroh sighed in his defeat. "You know I am honored to have been asked," he said. "And I graciously accept."

"Thank you," she said. "There is no one else I would want to be at my side."

In an attempt to break the mood, she twirled around in place. "So, how do I look?" she asked. "I can never tell."

He chuckled at her joke, and she responded with her usual smirk. "You look beautiful," he said.

Her heart warmed at his comment. Although she knew she would never be able to see her wedding dress, she wanted it to look good all the same.

"I am curious about the color scheme though."

She knew from Katara and the others that the dress was the deepest of reds with an intricately woven pattern in black rising up from her feet and ending just below the neckline.

"I was born in the Earth Nation," she said. "I'm an earthbender and I live in Omashu, but my family, the family that really matters to me, is of the fire nation. Ever since I met you, even though at first we were on different sides of the war, you guided me and helped me find my way in the world more than anyone else. I hope you I don't offend you, but you're more of a father to me than my father ever was. I just wanted to say thank you."

In one of the few times in her life, she was taken completely unawares, not feeling Iroh move until he had enveloped her in a massive hug tight enough for her to feel his heartbeat as if it were her own.

"I should be the one thanking you," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "After my son died, I felt I had lost my path. Soon after, I lost my father as well. Then it was my home, as I was banished to the wilds with Zuko as I tried my best to keep him from making the same mistakes I had. Although the journey was long, destiny treated me with kindness. I gained a son in Zuko, and I have been more proud of him than any father has a right to be. The city I spent so long trying to destroy welcomed me home as one of its children."

Iroh paused and Toph felt his chin gently rest on her head.

"And in you, I have been given the daughter I never had. There is no way to repay the fates for giving me so much."

Toph felt the tears on her cheeks before she even realized she was crying.

"Father..." she said softly.

"Daughter..."

Letting go of each other, they both attempted to wipe away their tears. Fortunately, Toph's makeup was earth-based and she was able to repair the damage with little effort.

"Are you ready?" Iroh asked after he confirmed everything was back to the way Katara had left it.

"I am," she said.

"Then let's go get you married."


End file.
